What part of Milwaukee did you come from? I originally bought my Z to do a SBC conversion also, but my buddy sold me a Buick GN drivetrain for $1K, couldn't pass that up!
I feel the winter time is the best to do stuff to your Z, because you are not in a hurry to get it back together to drive it. This way you take more time cleaning, painting, ect..
As for salvage yards... not very many have Z cars. I know of two yards around here that have a 280Z and the other has a 260Z. They are pretty rare to find anywhere in Wisconsin, in the salvage yards or driving on the road. I'm planning on going to get the stub axles from the 280Z next Saturday. While I'm there, I can look at the dome light, hood release cable and the hatch brackets for you. If they are decent, I'll pick them up. If all goes well, I'll drop you an E-mail and let you know. What's your spending cap on those three items?
Oh yeah, on my '73 there is only one gas shock to hold up the rear hatch
!M!